Canada’s former top military officer pleaded guilty Wednesday to obstruction of justice in an investigation of sexual misconduct allegations against him. Retired general Jonathan Vance’s plea, entered during a virtual appearance in an Ottawa courtroom, follows a wave of accusations against him and other senior commanders over the past year that plunged the military into turmoil and tarnished the image of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s self-proclaimed “feminist government.” Vance held the position of chief of the defense staff. While under investigation for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a subordinate, Vance was charged last July with contacting the woman to try to persuade her to make false statements about it to investigators. Major Kellie Brennan testified at a parliamentary committee last April that she and Vance had an on-and-off relationship that started in 2001 and continued after he became chief of the defense staff in 2015. Brennan shared with Global News recordings of their telephone conversations in which Vance reportedly warned that revelations of their affair while he was her boss “would be devastating” or “life-changing for both of us in a bad way.” She’d also claimed that the general fathered two of her children, which was disputed.